“How many?”
It was Blair who had those numbers. It hurt him to say it, though. “One hundred seventy thousand people.”
The president closed his eyes.
“However, if it continues to spread at this rate, we’ll have to expand the zone again,” said Blair. “By tomorrow morning Pittsburgh will be inside the hot zone.”
He turned. “Ladies and gentlemen, I will take any and all suggestions for how to contain this. As of right now no option is off the table.”
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
STEBBINS LITTLE SCHOOL
STEBBINS, PENNSYLVANIA
Two of the red laser dots vanished and a few seconds later two men came walking slowly and carefully out of the rain. They wore the same dark hazmat suits as the other soldiers, and carried similar gear. The taller of the newcomers had an M4 in his gloved hands; the other had a sniper rifle. Dez recognized it. A .408 Cheyenne Tactical sniper rifle that fired .338 Lapua Magnum supersonic rounds. A rifle bullet like that would result in a kill shot no matter where it struck a person.
The laser dot on Billy Trout remained where it was and Dez’s heart hammered in her chest.
The man with the sniper rifle walked past Uriah Piper and the other farmers, showing a total lack of concern that they all held weapons. He walked right up to Dez, slung his rifle barrel down, raised his goggles onto his forehead, and pulled down his hood to reveal a middle-aged Japanese face. A small mouth, crooked nose, and quiet eyes. Lots of old scars.
“Officer Fox?” he asked, his voice mild and surprisingly deep for a man of his size. Thunder boomed like a dramatic counterpoint and lightning glowed along the edges of his face. Imura raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Nice timing, but I promise that I didn’t plan the theatrics.”
Dez almost smiled. Didn’t.
The soldier offered his hand. “Captain Sam Imura.”
Dez did not shake hands. “Get that laser sight off of Billy.”
“Sure,” said Imura, withdrawing his hand. He tapped the electronic bud seated inside his right ear. “Moonshiner, stand down.”
The red dot vanished. Trout sagged and almost collapsed, but Piper caught him under the armpit and steadied him. Sam Imura looked amused. A fifth soldier, big and broad-shouldered, stepped down from his hiding place in one of the buses.
Dez stepped very close to Sam. They were the same height and she gave him the full weight of her anger and disapproval in a blue-eyed glared. “Okay, so now that we’re done measuring dicks,” she growled, “how about you tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“I will,” said Sam, “but first I need to know if the flash drives are still safe.”
“That’s why you’re here?”
“Mostly,” said Sam. He glanced at Trout. “Do you have them?”
“Don’t trust him, Billy,” said Cletus, one of the farmers. A few others grunted agreement, except for Piper, who stood as silent as a statue.
“Why didn’t you shoot first and just take the drives?” Trout asked sourly.
“Three reasons,” said Sam. “First, we’re not actually barbarians. I know, big surprise, right? It goes against the cliché, but what can I tell you? Second, if we started a gunfight, do you really think either side would win? We’d kill a bunch of you, and you might kill some of my people. That’s pretty crappy math.”
Trout pointed to the big auditorium windows halfway along the side of the school. That entire section of the school’s facade was peppered with thousands of bullet holes, and the windows were totally gone. “You guys seemed happy with that equation a few hours ago.”
“That wasn’t us,” said Sam. “That was Colonel Dietrich of the Pennsylvania National Guard who, as I believe you’ve been told, has been relieved of his command. He was replaced by Major General Zetter, who did not fire on you. He could have, you know. Your ‘live from the apocalypse’ broadcasts are being jammed, so no one would have known if Zetter razed this school to the ground. The fact that he didn’t should say something to you.”
Trout and Dez exchanged an uncertain look.
“What was the third reason, Captain?” asked Dez.
“Because if Mr. Trout here is dead and the flash drives are not in his pocket, then I could burn off a lot of time trying to find wherever he hid them.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty simple, really. The best approach is a straightforward one, so I decided to come and ask.”
“Except that you walked into an ambush,” said one of the farmers. “How smart was that?”